Michael Bevan looks back at his early years and at a Test career that never took off

Interview by Richard Edwards02-Dec-2010″I probably lacked a little belief that I could play it the pull, even though a first-class average of 60 would suggest that it shouldn’t have been a problem”•Getty ImagesWhat are your early memories?
Playing representative cricket against all the other states for what was really a minnow ACT [Australian Capital Territory] side. Back then I was more of a fast bowler than a batsman. I didn’t really start taking batting seriously until the age of 16, when I injured my back.Did it hamper your development, coming from the country’s smallest state?
Given that I always wanted to play for Australia, I knew I would have to change states at some stage, but
that problem was really solved for me when I was included in the Australian Under-19 side and then picked for the Australian Academy in Adelaide.What are your memories of your first-class debut for South Australia?
We were playing against Western Australia at the WACA in December 1989 and I spent my first two days in the field basically chasing leather and standing at cover watching Geoff Marsh [who scored 355 not out] smash cover-drives past me. I did manage to score a hundred in my first innings, though. The wicket was like glass. It’s not like that now but back then the ball was still swinging after 80 overs, so it was an unusual experience playing and missing regularly when you were nearing your hundred.Allan Border’s retirement handed you your international chance in 1994…
AB had called it a day and I suppose you could say that I was the first player to take his place in the Australian side, and for a 23-year-old they were pretty big shoes to fill.How was your first tour, to Pakistan?
Travelling over there was a new experience, but I was pretty excited to be making my Test debut and playing with some of the legends of the game. I scored 80 in my first innings and had a good series. It was probably the best I’d hit them in Test cricket, even though I had a pretty dubious start. I remember taking strike against Wasim Akram for my first ball and he nearly took my head off. After that I did pretty well and I’ve no doubt it was because the wickets and the reverse-swing in Pakistan were similar to what I had been used to at the SCG. In the end we lost that first match by one wicket after Heals [Ian Healy] fumbled a stumping and the ball ran for four byes. He was distraught walking off afterwards.You played two matches of the Ashes series after that Pakistan tour and were then dropped. Was that hard to take?
Funnily enough, being dropped from the Australian team in an Ashes series was probably the first time I had learnt anything about myself and my game, and I actually improved as a player after that. Looking back now,
that was obviously a good thing, but starting that Ashes series so poorly was a real low because I couldn’t work out why I wasn’t performing.You joined Yorkshire soon afterwards. Did playing county cricket help your game?
Generally speaking, I would say yes. As a batsman it gives you a great opportunity to spend a lot of time in the middle and there’s no substitute for that. I always enjoyed playing county cricket because it was a touch more light-hearted than playing domestic cricket back home, so I definitely took a lot of positives from my experiences in England.Was that light-hearted environment a reason why England struggled to beat Australia during that time?
Look, I’m not sure about that but what I did notice is that the first five matches of every summer were the toughest – those matches were probably tougher than most of the Shield matches we played because the bowlers were fresh, there was a bit of juice in the wicket and there was a bit of rain around. One of the problems that the English domestic game had to get a handle on was that by the middle of summer, with so many flat wickets, the new ball being replaced after 100 overs and the one-bouncer rule, life was very tough for a lot of the bowlers and a lot easier for the batsmen.

“I never saw myself as being just a one-day player. It’s just a tag I was given and have to live with. I guess when I first started I hoped I would play 100 Tests, but obviously it didn’t pan out that way. In the end I think I was dropped from the one-day side too soon”

You had such a great record in England but struggled in the Ashes. Why was that?
I played two Ashes series and in both of them I did particularly poorly. I think I averaged over 50 against West Indies and over 60 against Pakistan but against England I averaged 8 and 13, so there was no in-between for me at that point. It’s hard to put your finger on why that might have happened but, while playing in the Ashes is something that every Australian cricketer looks forward to, from a personal perspective it was a pretty challenging time and ultimately it’s always hard to enjoy it when you’re going through that kind of trot.A lot of people blamed your failures at Test level on a weakness against the short ball. Was that fair?
I couldn’t work it out at the time because I’d never really had an issue with it in the past but the more it happened, the more of an issue it became. I don’t think I helped myself. I probably put too much focus on trying to play it well and gave it too much priority. I probably lacked a little belief that I could play it, even though a first-class average of 60 would suggest that it shouldn’t have been a problem. I think in the end that my problems at Test level were more psychological than anything physical or technical.Which Australian captain did you most enjoy playing under?
Steve Waugh was a good captain and a good leader, although very different from Mark Taylor or
Ricky Ponting. Steve wasn’t a big communicator, which is quite strange for a leader, but he believed in leading through action. He set such high standards and wanted to achieve such great things. He also took a genuine interest in his players and was empathetic to players who were struggling, which is the way he built his trust and respect.Mark was completely different. He was comfortable in his own skin, extremely astute as a tactician, he was a great communicator and really knew how to get the best out of the players. He was probably the
most well-rounded captain that I played under.Did you ever see yourself as a one-day specialist?
I never saw myself as being just a one-day player. It’s just a tag I was given and have to live with. I guess when I first started I hoped I would play 100 Tests, but obviously it didn’t pan out that way. In the end I think I
was dropped from the one-day side too soon. I was left out because I think my role at No. 6 had been diminished by virtue of us having so many great players – I was simply required less.”Steve [Waugh] wasn’t a big communicator, which is quite strange for a leader, but he believed in leading through action”•Getty ImagesWas there a time when you thought you could win a match as a “finisher” for Australia from any position?
I felt it was my job as a No. 6 batsman to be there at the end when we were either chasing runs or setting totals. Quite often when you go in and your side is in trouble, the last thing on your mind is winning. You try to survive, hang around and keep an eye on the run-rate so that it’s still manageable. In one-day cricket the pressure comes from the run-rate and the scoreboard and they’re the factors that you need to cope with. You need to choose the right gameplan, minimise risk and make the right decisions.What was your best innings?
A lot of people remember when I hit a four off the last ball against West Indies to win a match at
Sydney in 1996, but I prefer a knock I played against New Zealand in 2002 in the domestic series at the MCG. We were under the pump and were looking as though we were going to miss out on the finals. They got about 240, we were 6 for 80-odd and I got 100. Chasing a large total like that under that sort of pressure was a really enjoyable, satisfying experience.Any regrets?
I haven’t watched much cricket now that I’ve finished. I’ve just sort of moved on. I would love to have
played more Test cricket, but then again it was one of the best learning experiences of my life. It wouldn’t make sense for me to harbour any grudges about what happened in the past.

A stats review of IPL 2011, and how it compares with previous editions

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan30-May-2011Chennai: unparalleled consistency across seasons
While most teams have struggled for consistency through a single season, Chennai have not only been dominant from start to finish of one tournament, but have also been exceptional across all four editions of the IPL. They lost a close final in the inaugural season to Rajasthan and made the semi-final the following year where they lost to Bangalore. In 2010, they beat fancied Mumbai Indians in the final before going on to lift the Champions League later in the year.Aided by a perfect home record this year, Chennai won two consecutive games in the knockout stage against Bangalore, who had been the form team of the IPL going into the final week. Chennai’s approach was much more conservative at the start of the innings when compared to most other teams, but their strategy of retaining wickets for the late overs proved to be a masterstroke. The powerful middle order ensured that Chennai scored a remarkably high number of boundaries in the end overs. They scored nearly 58% of their runs in the last six overs in boundaries (544 out of 939) at a run-rate of 10.33. On the bowling front too, Chennai were superb. They conceded less than eight runs per over overall and managed to stay quite economical in the last six-over period too (economy-rate 8.58).Chennai’s win-loss ratio of 2.20 in IPL 2011 was comfortably the best among the top four teams. Bangalore and Mumbai finished with 10 wins and six losses while Kolkata were third, with eight wins and seven losses. Chennai preferred batting first and won eight times when they did. They did, however, chase down a highly competitive target in the vital qualifier game against Bangalore which ensured that they would not need to play the second qualifier before the final. Overall, across the four seasons, Chennai have a win-loss ratio of 1.54 which is better than that of Mumbai (1.26) and Bangalore (1.00). Although Mumbai have been the better bowling side with a better economy-rate and average, Chennai’s all-round strength has proved to be crucial to their consistency across all seasons.

Performance of the top four teams in IPL 2011 and overall (four seasons)

Team	W/L ratio (2011)	Wins(bat first/chasing) -2011	Bat avg/Bowl avg (2011)	RR/ER (2011)	W/L ratio- overall	Wins(bat first/chasing)- overall	Bat avg/Bowl avg- overall	RR/ER- overall
Chennai	2.20	8/3	34.59/25.27	8.13/7.62	1.54	23/14	30.85/24.87	8.25/7.89
Bangalore	1.66	3/7	31.25/28.87	8.39/8.07	1.00	9/22	24.22/28.57	7.83/7.97
Mumbai	1.66	5/5	27.90/22.16	7.44/7.48	1.26	19/14	26.17/22.68	7.96/7.65
Kolkata	1.14	3/5	28.49/23.54	7.51/7.26	0.80	11/13	26.04/27.37	7.60/7.82

A balanced edition in most aspects

The average runs per wicket in IPL 2011 was very similar to that of the previous IPL tournaments that were played in India (2008 and 2010). However the run-rate (7.72) was slightly lower than the figures for those seasons (8.30 and 8.12). The 2009 IPL, which was played in South Africa, has been the most bowler-friendly edition with the lowest average and run-rate among the four seasons. In the early part of IPL 2011, chasing had proved to be the better option and nearly every team except Chennai employed the strategy. Overall, teams won 40 games chasing and 32 batting first. The ratio of wins chasing to wins batting first is lower only than the first season when teams won 36 times while chasing and 22 while batting first.Despite the fact that a huge number of fours and sixes were hit, the boundary-run percentage in IPL 2011 has also been surprisingly low. The figure of 54.29% is slightly lower than IPL 2010 with only the low-scoring IPL 2009 ranking lower (50.85). IPL 2011 also witnessed the most centuries (6) and the most fifties (89). Overall, though, the number of fifties per match (1.28) was lower than IPL 2008 (1.534) and IPL 2010 (1.533) and higher than IPL 2009 (1.22).Another notable feature of IPL 2011 was the lack of huge team scores. There were 14 scores of 180 or more which is lower than IPL 2010 ( 21) and IPL 2008 (16). On the other hand, there were nine scores less than or equal to 120 (20 overs played), which was the highest number of such scores across all four seasons. While IPL 2009 had eight such scores, IPL 2008 and IPL 2010 had just three and one such score respectively.

Overall stats for the four IPL seasons

Season	Matches	Wins(bat first/chasing)	Average	Run-rate	Boundary%	100/50
2008	58	22/36	26.03	8.30	58.76	6/83
2009	57	26/30	23.41	7.48	50.85	2/68
2010	60	31/28	26.20	8.12	54.84	4/88
2011	74	32/40	26.01	7.72	54.29	6/89

Conservative start and strong finish
The table below shows the performance of teams across different phases of the innings while batting first and chasing. The lower run-rate in the first six-over period in IPL 2011 clearly indicates a slightly more conservative approach. Apart from Bangalore, who had Chris Gayle in stunning form through the latter half of the tournament, no other team managed to dictate terms in the beginning of the innings consistently. In the middle-over period, the scoring rate has been lower than IPL 2008 and IPL 2010, but the average is much higher which points to the strategy of preserving wickets to help in accelerating in the end overs. In IPL 2011, chasing teams found the going better at the start of the innings, but did not manage to do as well in the middle and end of an innings. The run-rate in the end overs of the second innings (8.67) is second only to IPL 2008 (9.22), a season in which chasing teams have had the best record.

Performance across an innings (over period) in each season- (RR, average)

Season	1-6(1st inns)	7-14(1st inns)	15-20(1st inns)	1-6(2nd inns)	7-14(2nd inns)	15-20(2nd inns)
2008	7.47, 29.91	7.46, 26.87	10.14, 18.50	7.92, 30.95	8.29, 38.11	9.22, 19.64
2009	7.33, 26.14	6.60, 28.57	9.16, 18.29	7.10, 26.62	6.83, 26.32	8.60, 18.73
2010	7.83, 28.48	7.41, 30.68	9.79, 23.07	7.95, 37.16	7.68, 26.50	8.54, 17.81
2011	6.98, 29.67	7.32, 35.36	9.28, 18.64	7.42, 29.97	7.28, 29.32	8.67, 19.76

Gayle’s incredible numbers
Not only did Gayle make a mockery of the previous record for the most sixes hit in a season, he also ended up scoring more than 600 runs in 12 innings with two centuries and three fifties. In the matches he played, Gayle scored nearly 33% of the total team runs, and is on top of the list of batsmen with the highest percentage of team runs in IPL 2011 (top run getters for each team only). Virender Sehwag scored 24.48% of the runs for Delhi before an injury ended his run in the tournament. The eventual champions Chennai had many contributors, with Michael Hussey leading the way with 22.17% of the team runs. Shaun Marsh, who topped the runs tally for Punjab in IPL 2011 with 504 runs, scored 35.26% of the team runs in IPL 2008. Matthew Hayden and Sachin Tendulkar had the highest percentage of team runs in IPL 2009 and IPL 2010 with figures of 29.68% and 23.72% respectively.

Top run-getters for each team, and their percentage contribution

Batsman	Team	Team runs*	Batsman runs	% of team runs
Chris Gayle	Bangalore	1863	608	32.64
Michael Hussey	Chennai	2219	492	22.17
Sachin Tendulkar	Mumbai	2288	553	24.17
Jacques Kallis	Kolkata	2023	424	20.96
Shaun Marsh	Punjab	2224	504	22.66
Brendon McCullum	Kochi	1792	357	19.92
Rahul Dravid	Rajasthan	1687	343	20.33
Shikhar Dhawan	Deccan	2140	400	18.69
Virender Sehwag	Delhi	1732	424	24.48
Yuvraj Singh	Pune	1775	343	19.32

Middle-order batsmen shine
While the top six wickets in IPL 2008 and IPL 2010 scored at nearly eight runs per over throughout, the same was not true in the just-concluded edition. The top order scored slower than in previous seasons (with the exception of 2009), but maintained a good average. The first three wickets did, however, post more fifty-plus partnerships than they did in the previous years. The middle order had a much higher scoring-rate than the top order in IPL 2011, but the rate was still much lower than the two previous IPL seasons played in India.

Partnership stats in the four seasons (RR, average, 50+ stands)

Season	1st wkt	2nd wkt	3rd wkt	4th wkt	5th wkt	6th wkt
2008	8.04, 32.41, 25	8.58, 32.85, 23	8.01, 29.15, 18	8.28, 28.61, 18	8.15, 24.04, 8	8.70, 20.03, 3
2009	7.52, 24.00, 21	7.24, 22.97, 15	7.25, 32.17, 25	7.64, 30.69, 18	7.99, 27.36, 14	7.61, 15.07, 1
2010	7.97, 30.54, 24	8.35, 31.93, 24	8.23, 28.70, 23	8.07, 29.12, 17	8.32, 31.46, 15	8.36, 18.62, 2
2011	7.97, 32.51, 34	7.63, 32.25, 31	7.29, 28.66, 21	7.73, 25.31, 18	8.03, 27.93, 10	8.14, 18.10, 1

Spinners prove vital
While the role of pace bowlers has remained quite similar across all four seasons, the same is not true of the spinners. Spinners came to the fore in IPL 2009 in South Africa and were highly responsible for curtailing the scoring-rate in the middle of the innings. In 2011, fast bowlers averaged just over 28 at an economy-rate of 7.80 which made it their most successful year after IPL 2009, when they averaged just over 26 at an economy-rate of 7.65.Rahul Sharma was the standout spinner in IPL 2011 with 16 wickets at a superb economy-rate of 5.46. Daniel Vettori, Shane Warne and R Ashwin also returned excellent figures throughout a season in which spinners had a tremendous impact. Ashwin was consistently employed by MS Dhoni in the first six-over period and proved his worth in the final when he dismissed the dangerous Gayle in the first over of the innings. Overall, the average and economy-rate for spinners in IPL 2011 were bettered only by the corresponding figures in IPL 2009.

Pace v Spin in the four seasons (wickets, average, Economy-rate)

Season	Matches	Pace	Spin
2008	58	445, 29.23, 8.09	134, 30.38, 8.19
2009	57	388, 26.25, 7.65	226, 24.77. 6.76
2010	60	405, 29.64, 8.32	210, 28.80, 7.34
2011	74	470, 28.12, 7.80	267, 27.66, 7.12

“Your daily habits will determine how far you go,” says India’s vision document for the World Cup. At the moment India need to stop their habit of making silly errors with large consequences

Sharda Ugra in Chennai19-Mar-2011Chennai is a city of early risers. At the first sliver of light, the streets are dotted with people delivering milk and newspapers, setting up flower stalls, going for walks. Even the sun over Marina Beach switches swiftly onto a full beam in March, demanding that the day be seized.India are not the early risers of this World Cup. They come to Chennai knowing that every little detail of the team will soon be under its fierce glare, from their brightest parts to all that is hidden in India’s shadows. On Sunday, the team will not only wrestle against West Indies, but also try to clutch at their reputation that has dangerously peeled away, layer by layer, over the course of this World Cup.At the moment, all attention is focussed on India’s brightest parts: the batting that is due one blazing firecracker of a performance, the bowling that could be revitalised with a fresh face and a new edge, and the undeniable fact that their rivals can often be brittle under pressure and have a great sense of detachment from the art of playing spin.Yet it is from the shadow that India must find their answers, because after Sunday, they will be into what captain MS Dhoni calls the World Cup’s “lottery stages”. India’s ‘vision document’ for the tournament contains a paragraph that says, “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses. You don’t succeed when your dream is accomplished … you are succeeding or failing right now. Your daily habits will determine how far you go.”As India prepare for their last group game, the result of which will determine whom they play against in the Ahmedabad quarter-final, they will have to undo all habits formed over the five group games sprawled over a month. With the undeniable advantage of hindsight, Dhoni and his team know that what they are missing in this World Cup (apart from sharp fielders, of course) is the detailing.This has happened at an event where the broadest brush has been constantly swept around in their favour: the format has been fool-proofed so that the disasters of 2007 are avoided. Barring their opening match, India play every single game in conditions they know well. Australia and Sri Lanka are now on gas awaiting Sunday’s result to work out who will travel to Ahmedabad for the quarter-final. No-one on BCCI’s payroll will be lent out to visiting teams as temporary support staff even in emergencies. In this environment, the team has not performed with an assurance its fans need, its Board wants and its competitors would be daunted by. Sachin Tendulkar’s two centuries have virtually disappeared behind a blur of India’s uncrossed ‘t’s.Against England, India’s first World Cup match against one of the stronger teams in its group, a single was run short on the last ball of the innings. Against Ireland and Netherlands, India lost its top four within 100 runs when chasing, a warning sign about the batting’s collective sense of direction. That then morphed into the thoughtless 9 for 29, against South Africa.Eight balls were left unplayed in that innings. At the tail-end of the South African innings in Nagpur, a catch dropped of Morne van Wyk was forgotten because the batsmen fell three balls later but then the ball had also wobbled over the boundary. That was runs conceded. In the 49th over in Nagpur, an easy run-out chance with the two batsmen stranded at handshaking distance in the middle of the pitch was fluffed because of a bad throw. The batsman? Robin Petersen, who got a streaky inside-edged four off Ashish Nehra’s first ball in the last over, and then hit the six that swung the match South Africa’s way.On Sunday night, India and West Indies will fill in the final details as to how the World Cup knockouts will be shaped. India needs its most precise performance, with no straggly bits in selection, batting orders or bowling changes. The injury to Virender Sehwag may see him sit out the game and give him time to get ready for Ahmedabad, and it will also act as India’s best option to still persist with its power hitter Yusuf Pathan and try out both newbies, Suresh Raina and R Ashwin.It is as if the pieces of advice offered in the vision document by Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong are now taking on a life of their own. “Pick your battles,” Armstrong advises, saying that businesses and teams need “detailed strategies on which stages to win and which to sit back.” The World Cup is the same, Dhoni’s team has been told. “You can’t win every battle. However, you can win the important ones.”Sunday’s game qualifies as one of those. Irrespective of the result, West Indies are not expected be India’s most formidable opposition in the tournament. Yet, it could be the match in which the World Cup’s late risers finally reveal what they are really capable of doing when fully awake.

There isn’t much new that you can write about a man who gives up so little about himself

Ashok Malik01-May-2011In 2000, as the 20th century drew to a close, commissioned a poll to identify the five top cricketers of the previous 100 years. An electoral college of acclaimed cricket specialists voted unanimously for Don Bradman and near unanimously (90% votes) for Garry Sobers. After that the field spread out. Jack Hobbs made it, a tribute to his longevity and mastery of run-scoring over decades. Among contemporary players only Shane Warne made the cut. Viv Richards was the most recent batsman on the list.What if were to do another poll, to identify the five leading cricketers of the past 110 years (1901-2010)? Would there be any changes? It’s a fair bet that either Hobbs or Richards would surrender place to Sachin Tendulkar.In 2000, Tendulkar didn’t deserve space on that pedestal. He had scored thousands of runs but not done enough to live up to the promise he had shown as the finest teenaged batsman of all time. There was the massacre of Warne in Sharjah, the fourth-innings hundred against Pakistan in Chennai, the mighty scores in the World Cups of 1996 and 1999. Yet beyond that one had to go back to his early years, to the tour of Australia in 1991-92, for a standout sample of Tendulkar exceptionalism.The past decade has changed all that. Within months of the list, in March 2001, India won a famous victory in Kolkata, turned their cricket fortunes around, and finally discovered the team and work ethic Tendulkar deserved. The great man responded as only greatness can, and has just completed the most meaningful decade of his career. Today he matches Hobbs for durability and hunger, and Richards for destructive strokeplay in all formats of the game he has made available to himself.What of Twenty20, it will inevitably be asked, since Tendulkar plays only domestic and not international Twenty20 games. Actually this makes the comparison with Richards even clearer. The West Indian superstar played some of his most compelling innings for Somerset, especially in cup finals in the English county season. He made Somerset one of the world’s most gifted limited-overs sides in the early 1980s. Tendulkar does likewise for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.It is apt then that among the better essays in this collection is one by Peter Roebuck, part of that magical Somerset team of a quarter century ago. In “Classical and Complete”, Roebuck sets Tendulkar against Richards. As he writes, “Contemporaries often wished that the Antiguan possessed a little more of Tendulkar’s calm and constancy. Current commentators regret that the modern champion lacks the West Indian’s ability to grab the moment and shake it till it submits.”Roebuck places Richards (and Sunil Gavaskar) in the context of the 1970s and 1980s. India’s original Little Master was the “post-colonial warrior”. For Richards, his cricket “was personal”. “Always it was about something: a neglected island, a scorned people, a disdained colour, a patronised county. Always there was a certain wrath. Repose was not his temper.”

Wedded to his art, with no known political views, little by way of controversy and few even mildly indiscreet public statements there’s only so much you can write about Tendulkar. Indeed, to write about him is more an act of worship than an argument. This book – Tendulkar book – operates within that constricting framework

In contrast “Tendulkar has never been an avenging angel”: “[He] is comfortable in his own skin and country and team and colour and creed. Richards came to cricket with causes, for Tendulkar cricket is the cause.”Ironically that one assessment also tells us why any book on Tendulkar – biography, set of appraisals, anything – can never rise above a certain pitch. He has been wedded to his art, has no known political views, has hardly been involved in any controversy worth the name, and has made few even mildly indiscreet public statements. There’s only so much you can write about Tendulkar. Indeed, to write about him is more an act of worship than an argument.This book – Tendulkar book – operates within that constricting framework. Even so, it produces some eminently readable pieces. Osman Samiuddin on Pakistan’s relationship with Tendulkar, and Makarand Waingankar on Tendulkar’s early years in the hard, edgy school of Mumbai’s cricket are recommended.Mike Coward (“Adopting Sachin”) writes on the Australian appreciation of the man but is a trifle more reverential than one would want. Also, there’s a notable absence: how does “Adopting Sachin” match up to “Adopting Mr Very Very Special”? Years ago I was stopped by a tour guide leading a multi-country group on a climb up the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Halfway into the sky, with a bunch of cricket-agnostic Americans and Europeans and Japanese waiting, he discovered I was Indian and began discussing VVS Laxman. There’s an essay there, but perhaps Coward’s saved it for another time.This book has some great lines, but few better than Suresh Menon’s “Batsmen, like detectives in a murder mystery, look for means, motive and opportunity.” It comes in a sardonic yet meaningful look at how numbers (10,000 runs, 15,000 runs, 100 centuries, whatever) have chased Tendulkar almost as surely as he has chased them. It pits him against two Australians who provide the bookends to his career – Allan Border and Ricky Ponting – and has an interesting take on how cricket culture down under cherishes genius despite statistics, and how cricket culture in the subcontinent cherishes statistics despite genius.Amid copybook prose, there is also cross-batted inelegance. In an otherwise fine piece that begins with an account of that day in March 1994 when Tendulkar was promoted to open the innings in a limited-overs international in New Zealand, R Mohan manufactures a horrific line: “[Tendulkar’s] batting was probably as safe as that of a virgin at a convention of eunuchs.” Ouch.The biggest disappointments, however, are the essays by the contributors who shared a team huddle with Tendulkar, particularly by two thinking men, Sanjay Manjrekar and Rahul Dravid, who have batted with him. Dravid offers a teaser, writing of how Tendulkar mastered Shane Warne, and of how he fought off a pace attack on a tricky Trinidad pitch in 1997. Regrettably, he pulls his bat out of the way after that.Some day Dravid – Fry to Tendulkar’s Ranji, or maybe Morris to his Bradman – must make amends. Till then, we have our copies of .Sachin: Genius Unplugged
edited by Suresh Menon
Westland, Rs 599

The darling of Bangladesh cricket six years ago is now an outcast. But he believes he still has plenty to offer to the side, on and off the field

Firdose Moonda05-May-2011Mohammad Ashraful does not look a day older than 18. He is a small-built man with a youthful face, a thick crop of black hair and a childlike smile. When he says that he has “at least 10 years of international cricket” left in him, it’s easy to believe. Then you think of how much cricket he has already played.It’s been almost a decade since Ashraful debuted against Sri Lanka, stunning the cricket world with a fluent century. He was nothing more than a boy then, and he remembers his exact age without prompting. “I was 17 years and 63 days old then,” he said, recalling how he arrived on the scene and how, in the years since, he has squandered chances and been the victim of a struggling team.Now he’s clawing to get his career back. “I’ve played 55 Tests and 166 ODIs, so I have experience,” he said. “Now I need support.”Ashraful has steadily slipped from being the darling of Bangladesh cricket, and perhaps the country’s most popular sportsman at one point, to an outcast. He went from being a boy wonder to an ambassador for cricket in the country before he turned 21. In that time he was dropped from the team once, when poor form saw him left out of a series against England in 2003. At 22, he was handed the captaincy.He had already showed his ability to command respect, during the 2007 World Cup, when Bangladesh culled two major giants, first knocking India out of the group stage with a five-wicket win and then tripping South Africa up in the Super Eights. It’s the second victory that Ashraful recalls as his finest moment. “South Africa were No. 1 in the world then and I scored 87 off 83 balls. It was my best game,” he said.Unfortunately for him, that was as about good as it got. He failed to reach those heights in his captaincy, which was given to him soon after the tournament. Under him, Bangladesh only recorded eight victories in 38 ODIs. Ashraful’s own form slumped, and when he failed to see Bangladesh through to the second round of the World Twenty20 in 2009 in England, he was stripped of the leadership.”I was a little bit upset because I wanted to carry on as captain,” he said. He scored two ODI half-centuries on the tour of the West Indies but couldn’t keep it going. Save for a 75 against Sri Lanka early the next year, his highest ODI score since then against opposition excluding Zimbabwe has been 31. He was regularly out to careless strokes. Thus began a period of yo-yoing in and out of the side.After one match in a home series last December against Zimbabwe he was dropped. “I was told I would get three games,” he said. Against New Zealand, whom Bangladesh blanked 4-0, he was not picked. He then made the World Cup squad on the back of a hundred in a four-day match, and being named Player of the Tournament in the one-day league.Again, the old familiar inconsistency came back to haunt him. “I played two games but I was batting at No. 7,” he said. “After the match against West Indies [where Bangladesh were bowled out for 58], which was a bad game for everyone, only I was dropped. I spoke with the coach after that game and said that everybody fell down. I had even bowled well in that match and felt that I looked good.”Ashraful said it was never explained to him why he was being dipped in and out of the international side like a teabag, even though his relationship with then-coach Jamie Siddons was healthy. “When he [Siddons] first came to Bangladesh, I was the captain and we were good friends.”

“After the match against West Indies [where Bangladesh were bowled out for 58], which was a bad game for everyone, only I was dropped. I spoke with the coach after that game and said that everybody fell down”

He had not been forgotten altogether, though. While his team-mates were playing against Australia in the aftermath of the World Cup, Ashraful was leading an A side to South Africa, the start of his bid to get back into the national team. The tour resulted in a 0-1 unofficial Test series loss and a 1-3 loss in the one-dayers. Ashraful was the standout Bangladesh batsman in the one-dayers, scoring 172 runs, including a match-winning century, with an average of 57.33 and a strike rate of almost 100.His first hope is that a new coach will open the door for him again as Bangladesh look to enter a new era. “Jamie was working with us for four years so a new guy might be good for us,” he said. Having worked under Dav Whatmore, who “always wanted to win and was a motivator,” and Siddons who “always wanted to improve”, Ashraful thinks Bangladesh should now make use of foreigners and former Bangladesh players to take real steps in moving up the world rankings. “There are local guys who want to come and help us, like Habibul Bashar and Khaled Mahmud.”While new guidance is the first route to change, Ashraful wants also to see a wholesale improvement in Bangladesh cricket, not just for himself but for the team. He said more cricket, and exposure to different conditions, are the main ingredients necessary for success in future, especially as far as batting, which he thinks is Bangladesh’s biggest weakness, goes. “Our domestic cricket needs to improve. We play a maximum of nine first-class games in a season and that’s too little.”Tours like the one he has just completed in South Africa could help to bridge that gap. “We should tour a few more countries for experience,” he said. “It is not easy for us. The bounce is chest-high in South Africa and we are used to knee-high bounce at home. Our batsmen have to learn to leave the ball. In our conditions, we have to play the ball.”England is another place Ashraful would like Bangladesh’s youngsters to play more in. “I played a season of club cricket in England and conditions are beautiful for batting in June and July. Bangladesh has a lot of uneven bounce because wickets are not prepared properly.”He’s in favour of stints in the IPL as well, to broaden players’ horizons. Ashraful enjoyed a stint with the Mumbai Indians in 2009, and current captain Shakib Al Hasan is contracted to the Kolkata Knight Riders. “I spent 45 days with Sachin Tendulkar, Shaun Pollock, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan and learnt so much about cricket,” he said, “from watching them play to watching how they behave.”When he starts reeling off stories about the different places he has played in and people he has played with, it becomes evident that Ashraful still has a lot to offer Bangladesh cricket, on and off the field.He knows a turnaround has to come. “For the last one and a half years, I have not been performing as well as I should be internationally, but I will do well again.” He dreams of an average over 40 in Test cricket, which is not beyond a man of his skills.If he wasn’t a cricketer, Ashraful could have been a statistician, such is the precision with which he recalls numbers. He remembers all his own scores exactly – not just the big ones like the 158 not out against India but also the 11 against West Indies that was his last international game so far (and coincidentally also how much he made in his last Test, in England last year). The 10 years he throws out casually as a time frame for his future involvement with the Bangladesh national side sounds like a calculated figure and not a random number. Could it turn out to be the decade Bangladesh cricket needs?

Given the first set of conditions in this series that suit his gifts, Graeme Swann has tempted the great stroke-makers to hit against his classical brand of offspin with the deception of a cheeky expression

Sharda Ugra at The Oval22-Aug-2011At stumps on Sunday evening, Graeme Swann arrived at the media briefing, sat down, looked around the room and asked, “Right, who’s first?”When he takes the field tomorrow with only seven Indian wickets remaining between England and 4-0, it is a question Swann may ask himself again to work out how he should set about his day. The choice is between Sachin Tendulkar and Amit Mishra, batting titan and nightwatchman; with Swann’s love for centre stage as an indicator, it won’t be difficult to guess against whom he would like to weave a spell within a spell.Like he always does, Swann will bound in tomorrow; floppy hair, whirling arms, clean action, sunglasses, part skittish-schoolboy, part-performer. This, The Oval, is his element. A victory to push for, a pitch giving him the whole deal, eccentric turn, an explosive rough, lively bounce, even some skid, and a selection of the world’s best players of spin.Given the first set of conditions in this series that suit his gifts, Swann has gone seeking the truffle among his opponents. He has offered his brand of classical offspin, varying loop and pace with control and tempting the great stroke-makers to hit against his break with the deception of a cheeky expression.On the green deck of Trent Bridge and the quieter wickets of Lord’s and Edgbaston, the masters treated him with contempt; before this Test he had taken four of the 60 Indian wickets in the series.Now at the first sign of bite, Swann has dived into a feast. He accounted for Sachin Tendulkar and Suresh Raina in India’s first innings. As they followed on, Swann came on in the seventh over with the new ball and sent back Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag in an uninterrupted spell of 15 overs till stumps.Dravid – Swann’s second Test wicket – faced him for 100 deliveries and when following on, was forced into defending far too much with men around him. Something had to give, and after almost seven hours of batting, it had to be Dravid. It was “very satisfying,” Swann said.”Dravid was the one wicket we were gunning for … we were happy to see the back of him.” The wicket came with another prolonged piece of debate about a referral over a not-out which was reversed. Dravid later said he had got “a bit of a feather” on the ball which went to Alastair Cook at short leg.If Dravid was resolutely trying to keep the ball away from the stumps, Sehwag was trying to settle into his longest innings on this tour so far. Everything that Swann threw at him, Sehwag tried to flay through the off side. Early on, one turned sharply and flew past bat, pad, stumps and wicketkeeper for four byes and Swann mournfully told his captain, “It’s not my day.” Strauss told him, “Stop being so bloody pessimistic.”A few overs later, one zipped through the gate past a loose drive to strike Sehwag’s middle stump. “It only happens three-four times a year if you are lucky so when it does turn up in front of you, it’s one to savour … especially when it’s a player of his (Sehwag’s) repute and standing,” Swann said. “When it comes out of the hand, you know it’s in the right place but when you actually see it go through the gap, it’s a wonderful feeling.”Graeme Swann has made the most of helpful conditions at The Oval•Getty ImagesHe wants more of that tomorrow, the quicker the better. Once soft, the ball actually sank on Sunday into a passage of play where between the 60th and the 80th over, the bowlers suddenly went flat and batsmen found run-making easier. “We’ve probably got 25-30 overs with it still spinning and seaming. Today, it did absolutely nothing for 15 overs. We need to be wary of that, we need to try and get the wickets early in the morning.” His aim was three-four before lunch. “Especially if we get Tendulkar. We don’t want him staying around for too long.”Swann also offered another option which England have: reverse swing in case of the ball staying dry and the wicket seeing enough sun. If it does pan out the way Swann wants, everyone could be home just after lunch. If it doesn’t, then the England bowling attack will have to show one another aspect of their considerable skill.The period when the ball went “dead” – around the 60th over – said much to the Indians about the opportunities they have squandered. India’s innings have got shorter and shorter in this series, like skirts in the Sixties. The past two days, twisted antecedents aside, are the longest England have bowled in the series, clocking 129 overs.When kept in the field for long, like all bowlers, England’s began to show a few fraying edges as well. A couple of misfields, a bad throw here and there, a missed run-out, the first signs of heavy-footedness in the field from an otherwise energetic pace attack. A possible stumping of Tendulkar off Swann, which was the topic of much debate, didn’t even reach the third umpire because no one appealed.Swann heard about the incident when he returned to the pavilion and offered one of his wisecracks. “What can I say, I can’t see, I’m only at the bowler’s end. There are only about 12 pairs of eyes all around the stumps. It’s not exactly the brains trust you field out there, so it’s no surprise none of them really picked up on it. Surprised Matty Prior didn’t appeal because he appeals for everything.”Many throats will be cleared before England go out tomorrow because their push for 4-0 will require seven more wickets and much appealing off Swann’s bowling to get there. “It’s going to be a hard day, make no bones about that, we have got seven more wickets. We need to get them fairly sharpishly, so we don’t end up in a situation where we might have to bat again. We need to crack on in the same vein where we finished tonight.”England have got to a 4-0 whitewash or beyond only twice in the post-war period: against West Indies in 2004 and in 1959 against India. Should India resist tomorrow, nothing will change in the scoreline that stands or in the ICC rankings, other than England sensing yet again how adeptly they have worked all their advantages in the series. Should India collapse in a heap, the sheer might of this result must be absorbed: unlike West Indies of 2004 – despite Brian Lara’s presence – and India of 1959, a much stronger adversary has actually been made to look decrepit.

ESPNcricinfo looks at the highlights of the third round of the Ranji Trophy 2011-12

Abhishek Purohit22-Nov-2011If it’s the Kotla …
… the pitch has got to be upto something. After dishing out the low variety of bounce for the second Test against West Indies, the Kotla brought out the other version which batsmen dread even more – uneven bounce, for Delhi’s game against Tamil Nadu. The surface had an unusual green tinge which was masking a web of gaping cracks. Mithun Manhas, the Delhi captain, soon found out just how much was happening when he got hit on the box by a Yo Mahesh delivery that nipped in. Some minutes of wincing, catching his breath and stretching did it for Manhas but Abhinav Mukund wasn’t as lucky. Pradeep Sangwan isn’t someone who you would fear facing but he got a delivery to misbehave enough to hit Mukund on the jaw. Mukund had to leave the field but came back later to find deliveries beating both batsman and keeper as they scooted close to the ground. He did earn Tamil Nadu a substantial lead before being dismissed on 99. By Sangwan.The chase that wasn’t
After they almost chased down an improbable 146 in 13 overs against Haryana in the previous round, you would have expected Tamil Nadu to go after the target of 218 off a maximum 49 overs against Delhi. It would have required more skill against a better attack on a tricky Kotla surface but with Mukund not available to bat, Tamil Nadu had reason to be warier this time. A watchful start, followed by the quick departure of Arun Karthik and M Vijay meant it was down to Dinesh Karthik. He hit ten boundaries in making 52 but his dismissal brought a tame end with Tamil Nadu requiring 89 off 14 overs in fading light. “We had decided not to go for the runs knowing we will get some 15-17 overs less due to bad light,” Karthik told the . If only the Delhi fog hadn’t delayed the start by a couple of hours in the morning.What not to do on the eve of a game
Delhi and Kolkata Knight Riders allrounder Rajat Bhatia was playing with his pet dog a day before the start of the match against Tamil Nadu. Which wasn’t dangerous by itself. There was some new glass being fitted into the house windows. Which also wasn’t dangerous by itself. The combination of the two proved to be. While playing with the dog, Bhatia slipped and fell onto a sheet of glass, ending up with eight stitches in his batting, bowling and throwing hand, the right one. Bhatia managed to see a brighter side to the incident though. “Thankfully, I did not hurt my fingers or split the webbing between them,” Bhatia told ESPNcricinfo. “Or I would have been out for far longer.” He hopes to be back for Delhi’s next game against Baroda which starts in a week.A different league
Bat the opposition out of the game. Rajasthan won their maiden Ranji Trophy title last season with this strategy. This approach was backed up by the new-ball duo of Pankaj Singh and Deepak Chahar who were ran through sides in the Plate League and later restricted the might of the Mumbai and Tamil Nadu batting line-ups in the knockouts. The start of this season has been an entirely different experience. Karnataka beat them at their own strategy in their opening game, posting 623 after which Rajasthan crumbled. They returned to their big-scoring ways against Mumbai and Railways, posting totals in excess of 500 each time but still ended up conceding the lead as the bowling failed to click. With three points from three games, the defending champions have a lot to prove.The record
It is said that a wicketkeeper who goes unnoticed is doing a fine job. But there was no missing Hyderabad keeper Ibrahim Khaleel’s performance against Assam. Hyderabad roared back with a big innings win after having lost to Maharashtra by an innings in the previous round. There were two centuries, a five-for and two four-fors for Hyderabad but Khaleel grabbed all the attention with a first-class record 14 dismissals in the match. Seven in each innings, 11 catches, three stumpings. “Actually when the match ended we all thought that it was an Indian record,” Khaleel told the . “But then we checked the internet and saw that it’s a record in first-class cricket. Definitely, we had some disappointing outings but hope my performance and the big win changes things for us.”The comeback
A familiar figure ran in for Delhi against Tamil Nadu, sending back M Vijay and Arun Karthik off consecutive deliveries with movement and nip. The last time Ashish Nehra played first-class cricket was in November 2008. Injuries took over after that, and Nehra decided to play only the shorter formats to prolong his career. This time he was returning after breaking his fingers during the World Cup 2011 semi-final against Pakistan. Would he be able to bowl across three sessions in a day? Turned out that wasn’t his biggest worry. “I know my body cannot handle two four-day games with a gap of only three days between them. It’s not the bowling that is a problem, it’s the 90 overs in the field that in the past, have caused strains and injuries,” he told ESPNcricinfo. He got through the game in the end. Uninjured.The results
Saurashtra’s demolition of Punjab was the only outright result in the Elite League with the other six games being drawn. The Plate League, as always, provided more excitement, producing four results in six matches. There would have been a fifth result as well, but captain Yashpal Singh’s unbeaten century helped Services avoid an innings defeat to Vidarbha.The quote
“I did not feel under pressure at the start of the day, but I was thinking, ‘will I be okay, will everything go well?’ And so far it has.”

The hosts have won 18 of the 29 triangular series but have lost the last two in the finals

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan03-Feb-2012After two seasons of Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket, the idea of the triangular series took shape in 1979-80, with Australia, England and West Indies participating in the Benson and Hedges World Series Cup. The inaugural tournament also featured the first ever floodlit game, between Australia and West Indies in Sydney. Between then and 2007-08, the tri-series became an annual fixture and an important part of the Australian cricket season. Till the mid-1990s, Australia and West Indies dominated the competition, winning all but one tournament. Since the decline of West Indies as a cricketing force, Australia have hardly been threatened in the tri-series. Between 1997-98 and 2005-06, Australia failed to win in only one season, in 2001-02 when they finished behind South Africa and New Zealand. Surprisingly, in the last two seasons of the tri-series before the tournament was replaced by bilateral series for three seasons, Australia lost in the finals, to England in 2006-07, and India in 2007-08. That marked the first instance of them failing to win in consecutive home tri-series tournaments since 1983-84 and 1984-85.Australia have figured in 300 matches in the tournament and have an impressive win-loss record over the years. West Indies were by far the best team in the 1980s and registered all their tournament wins (6) between its inception in 1979-80 and 1992-93. Their win-loss ratio between 1979 and 1989 was an outstanding 2.35 (47 wins and 20 losses) but it fell away rapidly through the 1990s and 2000s. In their heyday (the 1980s), West Indies had an average difference (difference between batting and bowling average) of 6.77, easily the best among all teams. Their run-rate difference (difference between batting run-rate and economy-rate) was also the highest (0.36). Overall, however, Australia have been the dominant side with corresponding numbers of 6.66 and 0.34 respectively. India and Sri Lanka, the two teams playing in this year’s tournament, have played 60 and 73 matches so far in the tri-series respectively, with win-loss ratios of 0.62 and 0.33. India won the tournament in 2007-08, beating Australia in the first two finals while Sri Lanka made the finals in 2005-06 in which they lost to Australia.

Record of teams in the Australian tri-series

TeamMatchesWinsLossesW/L ratioBat avg/bowl avgavg diffRR/ERRR diffAustralia3001911001.9131.74/25.086.664.66/4.320.34West Indies12068481.4128.02/25.552.474.34/4.180.16South Africa3921181.1628.60/26.232.374.44/4.53-0.09England7332410.7826.19/29.85-3.664.42/4.54-0.12India6022350.6226.08/29.97-3.894.36/4.60-0.28New Zealand8933540.6125.35/29.35-4.004.26/4.47-0.21Pakistan7426460.5624.76/29.84-5.084.25/4.52-0.27Sri Lanka7318540.3325.09/39.36-14.274.48/5.01-0.53The tournament usually features a long league phase and a best-of-three final, giving teams an opportunity to make comebacks. There have been cases when teams that struggled to qualify for the final have ended up winning the tournament. In 1993-94, Australia lost twice to South Africa in the group phase and again in the first final but went on to win the second and third finals. In 1996-97, West Indies beat Pakistan in three of four group games but lost in the first two finals against the same opponents. The hosts have a top-class record in the tri-series finals, winning 18 of the 25 they have featured in. West Indies won each of the first six finals they contested and lost two, in 1997 and 2001. Apart from South Africa, who have an even win-loss record in final matches (4-4), all other teams have lost more matches than they have managed to win. New Zealand have been very ordinary in finals, losing 11 matches and winning just one.

Performance of teams in tri-series finals (only teams that have made finals)

TeamNo of finals playedNo of series wonWins/Losses (in finals)Australia251838/21West Indies8613/7England524/6South Africa314/4India412/6Pakistan412/6New Zealand501/11Sri Lanka201/4Over the years, patterns in the tri-series have changed. In the first ten years (1979-89), teams batting first did not have any distinct advantage, winning 82 and losing 81 matches. There were very few 300-plus scores in the period (3) and the overall run-rate and runs per wicket were 4.28 and 27.21 respectively. In the 1990s, the win-loss record for teams batting first improved considerably (54.88% of matches) but the number of 300-plus scores did not increase by much (5). The scoring-rate and runs-per-wicket figures for the period came down from the corresponding numbers in the previous period. However, since 2000, the stats have been completely different. There have been 23 scores over 300 and teams batting first have won nearly 60% of their matches. The run-rates in the first and second innings (5.08 and 4.79) are considerably higher than the numbers in the previous two periods.

Numbers over the years in the tri-series

PeriodMatches *% wins (batting first)No of 300-plus scoresRuns per wicket (1st innings)Run-rate (1st innings)Runs per wicket (2nd innings)Run-rate (2nd innings)RPW/RR (Overall)1979-198916749.10327.204.3727.234.1827.21/4.281990-199913354.88526.994.2925.944.1726.49/4.242000 onwards12458.872332.035.0828.714.7930.44/4.95Overall42453.773128.544.5527.254.3527.93/4.46The tracks in Australia have generally favoured pace bowlers, and this is evident in the bowling stats across the years in the tri-series. In the first ten years of the tri-series, pace bowlers had the better average (27.71) and strike-rate (42.01) as compared to the spinners. The fast bowlers also had a lower economy rate (3.95) as compared to that of the spinners (4.28). The difference in bowling average between pace bowlers and spinners dropped from 7.10 in the first ten years to 4.27 in the 1990s. The presence of Shane Warne meant that spinners also contributed a higher percentage of wickets in the 1990s as compared to the previous decade. Warne, who picked up 93 wickets at 21.04, was by far the best spinner in the tri-series matches in the 1990s. In the 2000s, the declining quality of spin meant that the average difference between pace and spin once again shot up to 8.58 and the spinners’ percentage contribution to wickets also dropped. However, the economy-rates for pace bowlers and spinners were approximately equal, although much higher than the corresponding numbers in the 1990s.

Stats for pace/spin bowlers in the tri-series

PeriodMatchesPace (wickets/ER, avg/SR)Pace (4WI/5WI)Spin (wickets/ER, avg/SR)Spin (4WI/5WI)1979-19891671757/3.95, 27.71/42.0144/15284/4.28, 34.81/48.786/11990-19991331191/3.99, 28.84/43.3030/12443/4.34, 33.11/45.708/42000 onwards1241214/4.80, 31.09/38.8039/15362/4.86, 39.67/48.9011/1Overall4244162/4.20, 29.02/41.40113/421089/4.50, 35.74/47.6025/6Michael Bevan announced himself with a stunning 78 to help Australia win a last-gasp thriller against West Indies in Sydney in 1996. Bevan went on to become the most consistent batsman in the triangular series (min 2000 runs) with an average of 57.11. He scored only one century, a knock that gave Australia a win after they had virtually no hope of chasing 246 against New Zealand in 2002. Bevan proved to be even more prolific in finals, scoring over 400 runs at 66.83 with five half-centuries. Dean Jones, one of Australia’s most successful ODI players, was also tremendous in the tri-series, averaging nearly 47. Viv Richards, perhaps the finest ODI player of his era, stood out among overseas batsman who played in the tri-series, averaging 46.60 overall and 53.25 in the finals. While Ricky Ponting is the highest run-getter in the history of the triangular series, Mark Waugh and Adam Gilchrist remain the only batsmen to score two centuries in finals.

Top batsmen in tri-series overall (min 2000 runs) and in the tournament finals (min 500 runs)

Batsman (overall)Overall (Runs, average/SR)Overall (100/50)Batsman (finals)Finals (Runs, average/SR)Finals (100/50)Michael Bevan2570, 57.11/72.431/18Michael Bevan401, 66.83/77.260/5Dean Jones3456, 46.70/70.312/28Matthew Hayden570, 57.00/76.101/5Viv Richards2563, 46.60/85.293/22Viv Richards639, 53.25/82.130/9Damien Martyn2090, 42.65/78.243/10Gordon Greenidge408. 51.00/60.170/4Ricky Ponting4030, 39.90/79.519/25Dean Jones921, 48.47/71.110/8Mark Waugh3618, 37.29/74.308/21Andrew Symonds475, 47.50/96.151/2Desmond Haynes2782, 37.09/59.504/21Ricky Ponting434, 28.93/61.040/3Adam Gilchrist3375, 36.29/97.888/14Graeme Wood517, 39.76/58.550/4The highest team total in the triangular series is 368, by Australia against Sri Lanka in the second final in Sydney in 2005-06. Four of the top five scores have been made in Sydney. Mark Waugh holds the record for the highest individual score in the history of the tri-series, with 173 against West Indies in Melbourne in 2001. Of the seven batsmen who have scored over 150, four did so playing for Australia. Ajit Agarkar’s 6 for 42 against Australia in Melbourne in 2003-04 is the best bowling performance in the tri-series. While Glenn McGrath has the most wickets, Brett Lee has the highest number of five-fors. The record partnership in the triangular series is 237 which has been achieved by Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya in Sydney in 2002-03 and also by Ponting and Andrew Symonds in 2005-06.

ESPNcricinfo presents Plays of the Day for the match between India and Sri Lanka in Adelaide

Sidharth Monga at the Adelaide Oval14-Feb-2012The run-out
Angelo Mathews got a full toss in the 47th over. He missed it and for some reason even he might struggle to come up with, he went off for a run with the ball in MS Dhoni’s hands. Dhoni flicked the ball back onto the stumps for one of the more bizarre run-outs seen in international cricket.The bowling change
Throughout the summer Michael Clarke has been making bowling changes with immediate dividends. Today MS Dhoni stole some of that touch. In the 37th over, with Sri Lanka looking good for a score of over 270, Dhoni brought back Vinay Kumar. With his second delivery, Vinay removed Mahela Jayawardene with one that stayed a touch low. A collapse ensued, and Sri Lanka went from 3 for 173 to 9 for 236.The glance
In the 28th over of the India innings, Lasith Malinga bowled a full ball on Suresh Raina’s pad. Raina glanced it fine, a little too fine. It went off the face of the bat, a regulation catch for Kumar Sangakkara. Raina looked down at the pitch, up at the umpire, and then had to walk off.The block
Dhoni was new to the crease when he got a full ball outside off from Malinga. He blocked it defensively. A combination of the pace on the ball and the accidental sweet timing took it screaming away for a four through cover, all along the ground.The run-out II
It is impossible not to look at the background. In the previous match, Gautam Gambhir scored 92, and India made heavy weather of the rest of the chase. Today, Gambhir and Dhoni came together again with the chase a few overs from being a done thing. Then, with Gambhir on 91, Dhoni called him for a quick single to mid-off, and with Gambhir well on his way, turned him back. Gambhir missed another century.

He may not have played with the Invincibles but Australia’s second-oldest living Test cricketer has plenty to be grateful for

Brydon Coverdale26-Apr-2012Len Maddocks is Australia’s second-oldest living Test cricketer.He nearly wasn’t.”About 12 years ago I died from a heart attack,” Maddocks says. “I was sitting here at home on my own, my wife was away, and I raced out to the kitchen and grabbed the phone and rang 000. In about three minutes the ambulance pulled up in our drive, grabbed me and stuck me on a trolley, stuck me in the ambulance and headed for Box Hill hospital. I carked it on the way. They zapped me back to life.”I’ve been one of the few who have seen the other side. I think I saw a white light but I’m not sure. The first thing I remember of it was waking up at Box Hill hospital with my daughter and her eldest daughter sitting there. I remember opening my eyes and looking up and seeing a window and blue sky and I realised I was still alive.”Every day since then has been a bonus for Maddocks, who is now 85. A small, slight man with a voice that would suit a jockey, Maddocks sits at the kitchen table in his home in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, surrounded by photos of his family. He knows he is lucky; his younger brother Dick, who was a talented batsman for Victoria in the 1950s, suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 40.Maddocks is now afflicted by skin cancers, a result of playing cricket for three decades in an era when “if you put on sunscreen people thought you were a sissy”. He estimates he has had about 30 cancerous growths removed so far.”Still, I can’t complain,” he says. “I’m the second-oldest living Test cricketer [from Australia]. Artie Morris has got me done though.”Morris, 90, became Australia’s oldest living Test cricketer when Sam Loxton died last December. As members of the 1948 Invincibles, they were household names. Maddocks, by comparison, is something of a forgotten man, a wicketkeeper who was second in line to Gil Langley during the mid-1950s and went on numerous tours but played only seven Tests.As a player, he will go down in history as the man Jim Laker trapped lbw in Manchester in 1956 to wrap up his 19-wicket Test. Off the field, he will be remembered as the Australian team manager on the 1977 Ashes tour, when the World Series Cricket split came to light.Despite these legacies, Maddocks is content with his place in Australia’s cricketing landscape. He is philosophical when remembering the WSC rebellion – “somebody had to [be the manager], and all you can do is your best” – and he is happy to have played for Australia in an era when the country was blessed with great wicketkeeping depth.”Don Tallon was the best keeper I’ve ever seen,” he says. “He was much bigger than the rest of us. His footwork was perfect. I can remember going to the MCG for any match he was playing, just to watch him. He was magic as a keeper. Footwork is the most important thing for a wicketkeeper. If your feet are right, everything moves with it.”Remarkably for a man who kept wicket for 30 years at club, state or international level, Maddocks only once broke a digit, the little finger on his right hand. Some glovemen end their careers with fingers gnarled and bent in unnatural directions. Maddocks’ hands look perfectly normal, a testament to his skill and judgement behind the stumps.He considers Ian Healy the best of the modern wicketkeepers and believes Matthew Wade, the first Victoria player to keep wicket for Australia in a Test since Maddocks, is a “good player who will become a very good player”. Unlike some former cricketers of his generation, Maddocks has few gripes about the current state of the game, although the ongoing encroachment of the boundary rope further and further in from the fence does bother him.”I don’t think the players have changed that much,” he says. “I watch the players going on the ground and coming off more closely than most people. You can see they are friendly, which is what we were. Of course, we couldn’t help being friendly with our opponents because Keith Miller was always getting sozzled with them!”Maddocks regards Miller as the most memorable character he ever played with. Even now, he cannot comprehend the effect Miller had on women. Tales of Miller’s conquests are told with a conspiratorial preface – “You can’t print this!” – but it was as a player that the great allrounder most amazed Maddocks.

“We were just unbelievable. We played cricket Saturday morning in one competition, Saturday afternoon in another, Sunday morning in a third competition and Sunday afternoon in a fourth”

“He was interesting in everything that he did,” Maddocks says. “When he batted he was different, when he bowled he was different, fielding he was different. Ian Johnson, for example, always stood behind me at first slip, so the ball couldn’t go to his left hand. He couldn’t catch left-handed. When Miller was at first slip he used to stand yards away and he’d be diving all over the place.”Like Miller, Maddocks was a talented Australian Rules footballer. He was on North Melbourne’s list in the 1940s, but unlike his brother Dick, did not win a senior game with the club. He did, however, play baseball for Victoria as a teenager, and whatever sport was on the agenda, his parents were behind him and his two brothers all the way.”In hindsight, we were just unbelievable,” he says. “We played cricket Saturday morning in one competition, Saturday afternoon in another, Sunday morning in a third competition and Sunday afternoon in a fourth. After each day’s play, dad would discuss with us the things that had happened, where other kids had made mistakes and where we could have done better.””Mum used to go to all of our cricket, all of our football, all of our baseball. We’d set out from home at Newport with the old man out front on his bike, then my older brother Alan, then me, then Dick on our three bikes. Behind us came Mum, and the old man had built a little platform thing on her bike so that she could carry the soft drinks and the afternoon tea and the scorebooks. She had to score. I remember saying to her later in life, ‘how did you put up with us Mum?’ She said, ‘if I hadn’t put up with you and gone with you, I would never have seen any of you!’ They were great days.”The drive and determination that Maddocks showed in his early cricketing days propelled him into the Victoria team, and ultimately to Test cricket. All the while, he was working as an accountant for Australian Paper Manufacturers, where he had started work as a 16-year-old.A transfer to the company’s Hobart office allowed him to captain Tasmania for seven years, during which time the state played regularly against the other states and touring sides – though they were not part of the Sheffield Shield. When he became an ACB board member after his retirement, Maddocks chaired an ACB sub-committee on Tasmania’s push to enter the Shield.”We put it all together and said, ‘There’s your deal,'” he says. “The other states unanimously agreed, some of them with a bit of doubt at first. Tasmania have done well. They’ve turned out some good cricketers.”Maddocks considers helping Tasmania break into the mainstream of Australian cricket to be one of his finest achievements. But it was playing the game that brought him the greatest joy. His love of the game kept him playing club cricket for North Melbourne until he was 46.His association with the club has been as close to lifelong as is possible. His father signed him up as a junior member with the North Melbourne Football club as in 1932, when he was six. In February of this year, Maddocks was back at North Melbourne for a cricket club reunion, 80 years since he first set foot in the team’s Arden Street headquarters.Now that six-year-old from the depression era sits at his kitchen table with a Macbook plugged in and ready to use. Maddocks and his wife Heather use Skype to keep in touch with their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.He knows that every chance he’s had to see his family in the past 12 years has been a blessing. Everything else is secondary.